Posts tagged ‘tale’

This week I did a theme that I can see myself repeating and repeating. I loved this theme, and there’s so much to work with. I felt like I was making the toughest decisions of my life while selecting books this week because there were so many good choices! Plus, getting to dress up like a princess and wear a tiara is always fun in my book!

We started off with my usual opening song–“If You Want to Hear a Story.”

Then, I introduced my fairy wand (the example craft from this week) in a game of Fairy Godmother Says. Whenever I waved my wand, they had to do what I said. It came in useful for gentle reminders to sit criss-cross applesauce, keep our hands in our cookie jar, and keep our lips zipped. I got this idea from Sunflower Storytime.

“I brought my magic wand to story time today, and when I wave it, you must do exactly as I say. Magic wand says jump, wiggle in your seat, clap your hands, croak like a frog, etc.”

Then, we read our first book: The Wizard, the Fairy, and the Magic Chicken by Helen Lester
This was a cute book that the kids really go into. It was silly and had everything kids love (or love to hate) like talking animals, magic, monsters, kissing, etc. I’d highly recommend it!

This week’s flannel is another one for which I cannot claim credit. The youth facilitator before me made it and left it. It was so cute that I had to use it again this year! The flannel story was “Five Comfy Mattresses.”
I found the words on The Voices Inside My Headphones. I’m not sure where they came from originally.

5 Comfy Mattresses Under a Sleeping Princess
But the top one was too pinchy and she found a…crab!

4 Comfy Mattresses Under a Sleeping Princess
But the top one was too squishy and she found a….banana!

3 Comfy Mattresses Under a Sleeping Princess
But the top one was too hot and she found a….sun!

2 Comfy Mattresses Under a Sleeping Princess
But the top one was too buzzy and she found a…bee!

1 Comfy Mattress Under a Sleeping Princess
But it was TOO lumpy and she found a…pea!

So she ate the pea and fell asleep.
Then, it was time for a song. So, we sang “I Am.” I have no idea where I found this song, but here it is:

I am the king of running. I run and run and run. My subjects all run with me and we have so much fun!
I am the queen of jumping. I jump and jump and jump. My subjects all jump with me and fall down with a bump!
I am the prince of turning. I turn and turn and turn. My subjects all turn with me. It’s an easy thing to learn.
I am the princess of dancing. I dance and dance and dance. My subjects all dance with me and sit when they get the chance.

Our second book was Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein
This was about the time when my kids started asking if this was fairy tale week or chicken week. It just so happened that a lot of the good fairy tale books I found had chickens. They seemed to like this one, more so with my older kids who were more familiar with how the stories *should* go than with my little ones, but it was good fun.

Then, we stood up for “The Duke of York” action rhyme.

The Grand Old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men.
He marched them to the top of the hill
And he marched them down again.
And when they were UP, they were UP!
And when they were DOWN, they were DOWN!
And when they were only halfway up,
They were neither UP nor DOWN!

Our third book (in some of my older classes) was Not All Princesses Dress in Pink by Jane Yolen
I chose this book partially because I wanted to read The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenko but wasn’t sure if my kids would get it or not and, then, wanted a book along the same lines and partially just because it was pretty cute. It isn’t like your typical view of princesses at all. They’re playing soccer and baseball, planting gardens, protecting princes from evil knights, and rescuing themselves throughout the book. I really thought it was a cute, non-traditional book for a fairy tale theme.

Then, we did another draw and tell story: “The Princess and the Critter” from Draw and Tell: Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking, Viewing, Shaping by Richard Thompson.

This week’s draw and tell was a bit longer than the circus story but also a bit shorter than the pirate theme. I think it was a pretty good length. The only issue was that, even after singing about dragons and talking at length about them, the kids still seemed to think it looked like a dinosaur. But they seemed to like the story and helped out at the end by yelling out what scared the king and brave knights.

(Tune: Skip to My Lou)Curtsy like a princess just like soCurtsy like a princess just like so
Curtsy like a princess just like so
Curtsy like a princess!

Bow like a prince just like so…
Juggle like a jester just like so…
Fly like a fairy just like so…
Roar like a dragon, just like so…

Our last book in all my story times this week was Oh So Brave Dragon by David Kirk
I’ll admit that I was torn this week with book selection. There are just so many good fairy tale books! I guess that’s why I did four books instead of my usual three. I know everyone loves The Sunflower Sword by Mark Sperring and Miriam Latimer, but I didn’t choose that one. I subbed for our youth facilitator last year during her fairy tale theme week, so I knew that she’d read that one to all the kids last year, many of whom still come to story time. Though I loved it, I wanted something new. So, I started on a quest to find a cute, short, book about dragons, and I succeeded. Oh So Brave Dragon is just oh so cute! It gets the kids involved with the roaring and they seemed to like the pictures and how the dragon befriends the other forest critters even after scaring them initially. Overall, I’m very happy with this choice.

Then, we sang “Goodbye, Goodbye,” and that was it!

This week, I couldn’t make up my mind whether to offer two crafts or one. So, I prepped both and planned to make up my mind at the last minute. I couldn’t decide between a fairy wand or a paper plate crown.